OFFER, CONSIDERATION, ACCEPTANCE
by TrudiesMom
Summary: Rafael Barba was discouraged, tired, and frustrated with Liv's rejections of his offers to get together. Barba asks himself...what was he waiting for? Searching for answers, he wants to know that he will be accepted by a new person in his life. He decides to take a leap of faith to see if this special new someone will "jump" at the chance. Will she accept? Go on find out


OFFER….CONSIDERATION….ACCEPTANCE

Barba was discouraged and quite frustrated about the entire Liv situation. Another rejection was damaging to his big brass ego.

Enough was enough. . He had to make a decision. He was proud of himself for not over-reacting and thinking out things logically before making a move. For the first time, he truly felt that this was the right juncture to act on his feelings. If Liv didn't want to go out for a drink for God's sake – it was indicating that she was not really feeling the same way that he did.

Someone out there will say yes. All he knew was that he could not take another rejection too well. It would make him angry: It would make him dejected; The combination of both emotions would not for a good weekend make, buy it was a chance he was willing to take; The willingness to make a leap of faith.

Okay, now, where was that damn business card?

Barba cautiously took the card out of his wallet and stared at it for a good few minutes. Oh my God…it was so hard to push Liv out of his thoughts. It was difficult for his heart to accept that he had to take a new course of action. Hard to believe kind of, but after all of the off-putting excuses that should make for not meeting with him, making a new move on his own - branching out seemed like the thing to do. His mind was tired of sorting things out; His heart was tired of being manipulated. He has t has gone through so much already, a new "adventure" of sorts was almost a necessity.

Get on with it Barba, do this…you owe it to yourself. Remember what Carisi said about happiness, about getting it for yourself. You don't need to get permission from anyone, just go with your heart. Hey, it was obvious that Olivia had no trouble doing this. She gave her heart readily, in fact she did that with a few people now, but maybe with him, there was something holding her back. That was a shame, but she has issues. Barba conjectured that keeping it professional was the way that she wanted it to go. Would they stay friends? Sure…that can happen. What it came down to was that he was almost forcing the issue and with all of his strength, he tried to open up the confines of her heart. But something stronger than he offerings that he could make to her had a hold on her soul. They got along just fine; They could speak legalese fluently with each other. There were many occasions they could read each other's minds. All the aspects of their **_professional relationship_** were irrefutably harmonious.

But that is where it ended, and that was a fact that was becoming abundantly obvious.

Barba did not see Katrina Haley right away when he walked into the store. Having decided to dispense with the formality of making the phone call to say that he was coming in, not seeing her there had him thinking that might have been a mistake. There was a distinguished middle aged salesman at the counter in front of him dealing with customers. He spotted a young gentleman over in accessories straightening merchandise on the shelves in a precise, symmetrical pattern. Barba then saw a glimmer of light from the stockroom door that was slightly ajar, reflecting movements of the person inside. Katrina's entry onto the sales floor seemed to illuminate the room with the incandescence of her personality. She was wearing a forest green dress with a scarf of vibrant mixed hues which enhanced and accented the attractiveness of her features. Katrina knew how to do things with a flair, that was for certain. Even with her sense of style and elegance, it could not overshadow the glow of her warmth and hospitality.

"Oh hey…Hi there Mr. Barba, you made it. You didn't call , but that's okay. We have telepathy going on, I was thinking of you earlier today."

Pleasantly surprised at the greeting, Barba smiled at her exuberance "Oh wow…you were? I hope they were good thoughts." Assuaging his concern in a lighthearted manner, Katrina laughed it off and said "Oh of course, you're so nice, how could my thoughts about you be anything but good ones? I said to myself 'Where is that Mr Barba? He was supposed to call me…." He let a few beats go by before he spoke again, "Please stop calling me Mr. Barba, just call me Rafael, I ask that you do that please. Mr. Barba is reserved for colleagues and judges, especially for the ones who have a bone to pick with me. Not only that, but I want to turn around to see if my Dad is standing there, so you can stop calling me that.

Katrina was happy that he was already loosening up with her. "Oh, okay… Whatever you say…I'll call you Rafael from now on. Okay, well, let me get that item for you. It's back in jewelry. Seeeeee… I **_told_** you I would get it all shined up for you, and I kept my promise." Katrina came back to the counter looking excited about showing him his new elegant merchandise which she took personal responsibility preparing for him. Barba said "Yes, that is exactly what I wanted. With the gold and silver mixed in, it will go nicely with quite a few of my ties." He looked up at Katrina with a look of appreciation, green eyes sparkling, and that sardonic grin that spread slowly into a smile. He was somewhat glad that he did not bring Carisi along. Not to be insulting about it, but he felt that it would have appeared almost to be sophomoric to bring someone along. It had the makings of bringing a buddy to Study Hall to pass a girl a note. After all, with the way that Carisi rattles on in a conversation, getting a word in edgewise might have been challenging. Barba was familiar with that tendency simply from having to deal with him at work as a shadow. Overall, he had many positive vibes that it was better to come alone.

After completing the transaction, Katrina took out one of the elegant hard cardboard wrapping boxes and lined the bag with tissue paper that bore the company crest. Barba saw what she was putting into it, and said "Oh no, you don't have to go all through that for me. I'm keeping it for myself, it's not a gift." Katrina whipped around at him and scolded him "You should treat yourself special every now and then, after all, you are special, Mr Barba…..wait, hold on, don't say it… Rafael. After all, I consider you special. You're a really nice guy, I wanted to do it, so don't argue with me." She put the bag on the counter in front of him, and stifled a laugh in front of him about the fact that she felt comfortable about mouthing off at him, even though it was meant to be playful. Not to worry; Barba took it as joking, and took it in a fun way, especially considering Katrina's naturally friendly demeanor. He felt his face blushing, and dimples formed around his slowly spreading grin, giving his face a cherubic appearance.

Katrina heard the customers saying goodbye to her co-worker which made her look at her watch. Surprised by the time that it was, she exclaimed, "Oh my word, it's getting late, and I have to get off the clock. My co-workers are nice and all, but they'll turn my butt in for working overtime. We're not supposed to be doing that, but for you…hey, it was worth being scolded, any day of the week." Barba felt bad that he held her up from getting out on time. Apologetically, he shakes his head and earnestly says "Oh no, I hope I didn't get you in trouble." Katrina talked over him at the end of his sentence…"oh no no no, it's all good, the boss likes me, I'll get off with a slap on the wrist," she said softly, almost in a whisper.

They walked out onto the sidewalk together. Katrina turned to him, knowing that it was a built in termination point to their conversation, "Well it was so nice to see you! Wow, I thought you were going to forget about buying that," never letting the cheerfulness leave her voice. She was judicious in the choice of her words. By saying "I thought you forgot about me" would have shown a want of feeling from Rafael. That was going to be way too personal, too soon. She was used to disappointment with men, and nothing ever amounted to much in as far as dating was concerned. Not after the ordeal that she experienced with the man who she once truly believed would be the love of her life, the man who she was destined to spend the rest of her life with. When that relationship ended, the details which emerged about her intended were so shocking, damaging, and traumatic, that she resigned herself not to be hurt by any man again in her life. She would not leave herself open to that happening. It took time for the wound of being deceived to heal on the surface, but it unquestionably left a permanent scar. She learned to live with the realty of being alone forever, but it was worth the price. Weekends would become synonymous with getting dinner from the neighborhood deli or buffet style restaurants where single people would stop in and buy enough for two nights to have leftovers so that she would not be ashamed of being seen alone again. She became quite familiar and sadly enough, comfortable with that situation, to the point of being complacent with the outcome of her life.

"Listen.. I feel bad that I held you up at work. I'm kind of famished myself. I know that you told me once that you might just have a penchant for Cuban food. I bet you didn't think I would remember that, but I do. It's only been two weeks, it's pretty fresh in my mind." All of a sudden it was Katrina that would become the quiet, shy one. "You remember that, do ya?" Barba looked at her, for the first time, flirtatiously, having a strong inclination that he would get away with it. "What did you have in mind Mr. Rafael Barba?" Barba answered "Well, uh, I was going to hail a cab and go down to Coppelia's , did you want to join me for some hot and spicey Cuban stuff?" Squinting playfully through her eyes, she re-iterates his offer back to him, "Hot and Spicey Cuban stuff, huh? Well if we do that, then what are we are going to do about eating?" They looked at each other and laughed, each at their own awkward delivery in the flirting game. Katrina was already raising her hand to hail a cab which was pulling up to them at the sidewalk. She gave directions to the cabbie through the window, "We're going to Coppelia's West 14th," Looking at Barba with feigned bewilderment, she asks "what are you standing there for? Get in!" Barba climbs into the back seat. She stares at him for a few seconds and continues on "It just so happens that I was in the mood for something…you know…hot…and…spicey also, but I'll have to look at the menu." She screws her face up in a playful manner and adds, "It's kinda been awhile." Barba's retort is equally as playful, being emotionally fueled by her acceptance to the invite, "That shouldn't take too long to pick out what you want….more than likely you'll select something that was right in front of you all along."


End file.
